A new life
by ObsidianHorn
Summary: Princess Celestia has a suprise for her sister Luna, for all of Equestria. She may be a bit suprised herself.
1. Chapter 1: A new life

I made a few edits to the dialogue of the story as well as fixed some errors. The basic story remains the same. If you're reading this again, feel free to let me know if it's an improvement or not.

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"Doctor! Come quickly, you are needed urgently!" it was a rare occasion when Celestia raised her voice, and when she did it caused every pony within earshot to take pause. Even the attending physician stood dumbfounded at the closed door until he heard Celestia speak again, "Please, doctor..." her voice quieter now, weaker, tinged with desperation.

That snapped Dr. Sawbones out of his attentive stupor, "Ahh, yes. Of course! Nurse, you're with me! Orderly, get the visitors out of here! The doctor flung open the door to the patient isolation room.

Princess Celestia stood at the entrance, her normally billowing mane and tail hung flacidly, the radiant energy of her aura was dim shadow of what it once was. Dr. Sawbones was taken aback and panicked at the pathetic state princess Celestia was in. "Princess! What in the name of the sun and moon happened? Nurse! Get a gurney in here! Fetch the CMO! This is an emergency! Lock down the hospital! We can't have word of this getting out!".

Orderlies started rushing about, following the Doctor's orders. Princess Celestia shook her head, "I am fine, Doctor. I just need some rest, perhaps a bit of sweet tea. He is your patient." She steps back looking at a maneless, blank flanked unipeg foal lying on the bed, wheezing softly, struggling to breathe.

Dr. Sawbones stared at the young foal for a long moment, he didn't look like a newborn, but rather a foal of 7 or 8 years. Certainly not the creature that was brought in. "B-but Princess. Who is this? Where did he come from?". The doctor demands to know. "Where is...".

"He is my son." she interrupts, "Please, he won't survive without help." The weakened princess gives the doctor a pleading look.

Dr. Sawbones heart skips a beat, and in the space of that missing heartbeat, he steels his reserve, "Someone take care of the Princess. Nurse! Prepare the positive pressure breathing apparatus! We have to maintain his airway! Get some diagnostic equipment in here! And someone summon the pediatrician!".

Princess Celestia is led from the now extremely busy ward by a pair of Royal guards, "Please take me to my room." Celestia requests of the guards. The princess is led into her sleeping quarters. When they arrive, she sees Luna pacing back and forth, disturbed by the warmth of her sister's energy suddenly peaking, and fading away,

Luna rushes towards her sister, an expression of worried panic on her face. "Tia! Tia, what happened? I felt your aura flare and then I couldn't feel you at all until just now." she explains, forgoing the royal dialect for the familiar tone of voice she always takes with her sister. Celestia is levitated by Luna to her bed then covered by her silken sheet.

Celestia looks up at her sister, an exhausted smile on her face, "You'll need to set the sun, tonight auntie Luna." are Celestia's final words before closing her eyes, a blissful smile on her face as she sleeps.

Luna left her and Celestia's room to leave her in peace to sleep, satisfied that all that Celestia did was to severely over exert herself. Luna heads to the hospital where her sister was to get a full report as to what exactly happened. The guards part the crowd of curious ponies gathered at the hospital to allow Luna to enter. She is escorted to the patient isolation ward, then is briefed by a nurse before entering the room.

Another piteous sight greets Luna when she walks in, a pinkish/white unipeg colt lying a sleep on his side on the hospital bed. A plastic mask covering his muzzle with a hose that leads to a contraption that helps him to breathe. She can tell this pony is brand new to this world, his fur had only just begun to grow in, the pink was from the color of his skin. Luna figured by the time his coat grew in he'd be all white, save for a darker patch around his right eye. The colt had no mane nor a cutie mark as of yet, and his horn was just a tiny nub sticking out of his forehead. She also couldn't help but notice that this child was clearly not the correct size and shape of a newborn, but at the same time not developed enough to be the school-aged child he was tall enough to be. Despite all her questions, she could sense only one thing for certain: This was indeed Celestia's foal.

Luna walks out of the isolation room, meeting Dr. Sawbones in the hallway. As soon as the doctor bows, Luna begins her interrogation using the customary Canterlot royal dialect, "At ease doctor. We must know. Will yon child survive?".

Dr. Sawbones immediately stands, "I believe so, princess. He's been improving steadily since he... umm... Appeared.".

Luna begins pacing back and forth in front of the doctor, interrogating him, "We wouldst known if mine sister was taken with pregnancy, or if she was taken with a special somepony and we KNOW she is not given to..." She stops herself before even mentioning the possibility of a secret one-night lover, "In which manner mine beloved sister did birth this child? Whom sired this foal?" she asks sternly.

The doctor stammers, feeling suddenly like an enemy spy or having to report why something went horribly wrong, "I... I don't know, P-princess. It-it-it's really quite obvious when a pony gives birth, especially a child that size and-and as far as we know Princess Celestia has never been pregnant, at least as far back as we keep records. We can do a blood test, and find out... Maybe.".

Luna signs, she'd know... Anypony would know just by the smell of the room if a pony gave birth there. She would have smelled it on Celestia as well. It was all too confusing for her. Celestia wasn't pregnant, she didn't give birth in as much one normally would, but she could not deny the odd little colt lying on that bed was Celestia's child. "Make it so." Luna declared officially. "Henceforth, upon the time this art sorted we implore not a word breathed to anypony. Thyself and thine staff art tasked with the well-being of yon foal. We bestow authorization to any and all resources. Take care that no attention is brought upon this hospital.". Luna orders.

Luna kept watch over the kingdom for the next 2 days, taking the responsibility of raising and setting the sun and moon while her sister slept. She was exhausted from the schedule she had to keep, Luna caught herself napping in the royal hall during quiet moments. She gained a new respect for her sister for having this responsibility for a thousand years. Luna cleared the calendar, for the week, just in case. Luna delegated tasks to the various ministers, giving them carte blanche with royal business.

High noon on the second day, Luna woke up from one of her unscheduled naps disturbed by the noise of munching, lip smacking, clinking of plates, and even a polite belch. Luna opened her eyes to find her Sister Celestia before a smorgasboard feast of pastas, pastries, cakes, salad, pickles, wines, and ice cream. Luna watches dumbstruck as Celestia uncharacteristically gorges herself on the odd assortment of foods. Luna sits up, staring at her sister incredulously, "Tia! Have you taken leave of your sanity? What are you DOING?!".

Celestia pauses her feast, a spoon with ice cream garnished with a pickled radish hovering near her muzzle, "Having lunch." she replies obviously. "Don't mothers usually have increased appetites for odd foods?" she asks, smiling blissfully, her mane once again billowing in an unseen breeze. "Did you have a nice nap?" she asks before nomming down her pickle ice cream sundae.

Luna is mostly relieved to sense her sister's aura back to it's usual brilliance, perhaps a bit more radiant than usual. She attributed that to the rest her sister had, "Yes, mares usually have an increased appetite when they are PREGNANT." Luna retorts, then begins her interrogation. "How did you have a foal? Who's the father? How did you keep your pregnancy a secret?".

Celestia finishes her ice cream, then downs a goblet of rose nectar, sighing satisfied after the extended chug "Mmm. Is it me? Or is the ice cream especially delicious today?" she asks, avoiding all of Luna's questions.

"Tia!" Luna objects, stomping her forehooves petulantly, the effect muted by the pillow she sits on.

Celestia giggles mirthfully, nuzzling against her sister, "Forgive me, Luna. I just got up a few hours ago. You must be exhausted from taking on my responsibilities. Here, have some pie, it's delectable. We're going to pay your little nephew a visit after lunch." A slice of strawberry rhubarb pie hovers tantalizingly in front of Luna's muzzle, supported by Celestia's levitation spell, "If stilph haff to nambe hib." the princess muffles around a mouthful of peanut butter, ginger and mustard sandwich on pumpernickel bread.

Luna takes a bite of pie, watching her sister eat. She knows there will be no answers when her sister has gone silly. Though she knows Celestia uses her silly act to cover up stronger emotions. She just has to wait until Celestia's true feelings break through that silly veneer. However, the Sun Princess' odd food cravings are a new thing. Luna hadn't ever seen such behavior from her sister before.

Lunch went on for 30 minutes, and in the end, Celestia's eyes were bigger than her stomach. She invited the guards and servant ponies into the royal sitting room to finish the considerable amount of food she had left untouched.

Both princesses took a carriage for the short journey to the hospital, accompanied by a phalanx of guards, the guards would have followed them both in to the hospital had princess Celestia not ordered them to stay outside. She then promised them all that they'd see the new prince in good time. All of the guards stared at each other wide-eyed in shock, having not heard of the princely foal thanks to Luna's order of secrecy. The rumor mill officially opens for business.

The new foal made remarkable progress in the two days Celestia slept. After the first night he was taken off the respirator, the afternoon after he was sitting up on his own. By the morning of the second day his snowy white, save for a round patch of black fur over his right eye had grown in, masking the pink of his skin. Even his mane and tail had started to grow midnight black hair, just barely longer than his body fur. When the royal sisters entered the ward they found the foal laying on his belly, his legs folded under him, his wings folded at his sides. He faced his nurse, his mouth open, and his tongue out.

"Say 'ahh'." the nurse requests, levitating a wooden tongue depressor against the foal's tongue.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh." the colt replies.

Celestia beams with felicitous joy, hearing her son's voice for the first time. She rushes to the bed, wrapping her forehooves around the colt, nuzzling his cheek and neck, "Ohhh, my baby's first word!". The foal squeaks in surprise, his wings flaring out from the startle, even the nurse is startled.

"P-Princess? I wasn't told you were coming! We would have prepared!" The nurse stammers.

After a moment the foal looks at the pony that's nuzzling him furiously, it takes him only a moment to realise... "Mama?" he asks to the abject shock of Luna. The nurse is a bit less surprised as the foal uttered his first word the night before, but if the princess says 'Ahh' or 'Mama' was his first word, that's the story the nurse was going to tell.

Celestia nuzzled her colt, tears of joy in her eyes, "Yes, yes, I am your mama. I am your mama." she holds her colt for a good long while, the little colt licks the tears away as they roll down her cheek.

Luna, smiles faintly. She does have questions, but the joy in her sisters heart convinces her that while the circumstances surrounding the colt, as well as the colt himself are odd, neither one of them is particularly harmful.

Dr. Sawbones, enters in behind Luna, she stops him, and silently gestures for him to go outside of the room. Once out to the hall, Luna asks the doctor, in her royal dialect, for the results of the blood test. The doctor makes his report, nervously, "According to the tests, princess Celestia is absolutely the colt's mother. As for the father..." He pauses, sighing, "We can't find a match. We checked every living stallion we have records for. We even started checking the blood against mares. There is no match that we know of. I have no explanation."

Luna nods, "We see. And what of the foal's recovery? seemingly he dost understand speech, as well dost speak. Pray tell how a newborn knowst to speak within two days?" she asks.

The doctor wipes some sweat from his brow, "I don't know. It's a bit of a miracle, actually. He woke up yesterday afternoon, crying. His milk teeth had erupted all at once, the poor boy. We numbed him up, and by the time the benzocaine wore off his milk teeth had fully developed. We realised he could talk last night when he told us he was hungry. His horn grew to a hoof width in length in the same amount of time. I'd say he's developed to a foal of the age of 8 in 2 days. He's still a bit tall and gangly, but I feel he might gain weight once he starts eating regularly." he explains.

Luna looks back to the door, hearing her sister fawn over her new foal. She looks back to the doctor, "How long must the foal remain in thine care?" she asks.

Dr. Sawbones shakes his head, "He doesn't. He's stabilized, other than being an extremely odd case I see no medical reason why he can't go home.".

Celestia opens the door with her magic, "Did you hear that? We can go home." she asks the foal, who nods in response. Celestia levitates her foal from the bed, his skinny, gangly legs dangling beneath him. She slowly lowers him onto his legs. Once his full weight is on his legs, the little colt's knees immediately buckle, sending him down on his belly. Everypony, save the princess gasps, making a move to help him up.

Celestia shakes her head, causing everypony to stop "No. He can do it, can't you dear?" she says with a smile.

The colt plants his hooves on the floor, slowly lifting up his body on shaky beanstalk legs. He takes a step forward, his knees buckling again, but he catches himself from falling. The adults look on expectantly as the colt takes a few unsteady steps before starting to walk slowly, but steadily. Celestia beams with pride as her foal takes his first steps.

Luna smiles, looking from the foal to her sister, speaking familiarly "Well? What's his name, Tia?" she asks. As the little foal continues practicing walking down the hall.

Princess Celestia takes a deep breath, sighing contentedly, "My son's name is Soul Strider." she declares.

In the next second they all hear,a soft 'tump-thump-tump-tumpitta-thump-bump... -gaaasssp-...WAAAaaahhhhhh!' from the stairwell.


	2. Chapter 2: Doing Mama's work

Celestia and Luna both rush down the stairs to find the new foal Soul Strider sitting on his haunches, bawling his little eyes out. The snowy foal is inspected for injuries. When he stands Celestis is satisfied that the trip down the stairs hurt only the little foal's pride. He looks up at her, sobbing and whimpering a few times, before calming down. "There, there dear. You have to be careful when you go walking around. Understand?"

Soul Strider looked back up to his mother's eyes, nodding, "Uh-huh..." he replies before being ushered into the carriage to be brought to his new home in Canterlot castle.

For the next 5 days, Celestia stayed with her new foal. She showed him the castle, introduced the young prince to the guards, council and servant staff. He was brought to the royal clothier to be sized for formal clothes. He wore his first royal suit at his first, or rather, 0th birthday party. It was a grand celebration, filled with all sorts of important ponies Soul Strider didn't know. The children all greeted him respectfully, but none really stayed to talk or play. There was a zero candle lit on his cake as opposed to not having one at all. Soul Strider adored the doting attention he received from the guests, not sensing the empty affections of his title rather than the affections of him. He also received constant attention from his mother since Luna cleared her sister's schedule for the week. Celestia was more than happy to lavish attention on her young colt. Soul Strider even slept next to his mother after watching her set the sun, auntie Luna raise the moon, and hearing a bedtime story before snuggling in next to mama.

Meanwhile the prince's miraculously fast development slowed to a normal rate. He grew no larger than the thin gangly foal he was born as. His horn stopped growing as well, leaving it to look a bit small in proportion for a unipeg his age, or rather the age he seemed to be. His wings seemed slightly underdeveloped as well, though not abnormally so. He just wasn't going to be in the best young fliers competition anytime soon. Celestia was sure her son would fill out as he got older, but for now he made a convincing, though rather wiry looking 7 year old foal.

But soon the prince's bedroom was furnished, and royal matters fell back into Celestia's hooves. Before the dawn of the first day of Celestia getting back to work she awoke, smiled down at her foal, and went out onto the balcony to raise the sun, letting the little one sleep. After the new dawn broke, Celestia quietly leaves her room to attend to royal business leaving Soul Strider in her bed, as Luna lays down to rest on hers.

It was only a few moments after mama left did Soul Strider awake. The little one sat up bleary-eyed, he looked down where he had left his mother last night, "Mama?" he asks the empty space. Luna, meanwhile was sound asleep on her bed, covered in a midnight blue satin sheet. Soul Strider began his search for his mother. He started by nosing his way under the sheet, crawling around, and eventually poking his head out from the sheet.

"Mama?" he asks again, a tinge of anxiety in his voice. He leaps off the mattress, walking over to the heavy, light blocking (for Luna's comfort) curtain covering the open doorway to the balcony. The colt bites down on the curtain, pulling it aside, letting the sunlight in. He trots out onto the balcony. He makes 3 complete turns, looking desperately for his mother.

"Mama!" he calls out pitifully, galloping back into the bedroom. For the past 5 days he's always had his mother by his side, he wonders why she should disappear now. In his rush back into the room, the tip of his horn snags in the drapes, stopping his head while his body keeps going. Soul Strider finds his horn caught in the grip of the offending curtain. He struggles valiantly, but his struggling and spinning in place only wraps the curtain around him. With one last yank, he pulls the curtain rod free from it's perch. The long oaken rod comes down, smacking the foal on the top of his rump, thankfully covered in a few layers of curtain.

Prince Soul Strider lies on the floor, defeated by the curtain. In complete darkness, the frustration, panic, and fear of being trapped in the dark without his mother are too much for the little foal. He cries out again, sobbing, "Maaaa-maaa! Maa*huck*maaaaa! Huuuuu*huck*uuuuu!".

The ruckus of the curtain rod clattering to the floor rouses Luna from her sleep. She lifts her head up, eyes squinting against the light. She finds the curtain on the floor, still squirming, the little prince's crying audible from under the blanket. Luna can't help but chuckle, "You are lost without your mother, aren't you, little one?" she says with a tinge of amusement. Luna levitates the whole mass of foal and textiles and untangled them expertly until the heartbroken little prince is on the floor, and the curtain is back up, covering the doorway to the balcony.

Soul Strider stands pathetic before Luna, both his nose and his eyes running from the ordeal. Luna hovers a handkerchief over to the foal, wiping his face and muzzle clean. "There now, little one. Auntie Luna is here. Do you want me to take you to breakfast?" she asks.

The little colt shakes his head, "No. I want Mama..." he whines, deciding while auntie is good, he really wants his mama who's gone missing.

Luna sighs, "I'm sorry, but mama is very busy. She has a lot of work to..." she's interrupted by the petulant cry of Soul Strider

"No! I WANT MAMA!" the little prince shouts, stomping his hooves out of abject frustration. His eyes start to water again. One would note the prince has healthy lungs for one who was on a respirator just a week before.

Luna frowns, feeling slighted that her little nephew rejected her company so vocally. It brought back memories of the children screaming and running from her during the last nightmare night, "Why you spoiled little..." she stops herself, remembering the prince is still a baby, barely a week old. Just that this baby can walk and talk...And yell... Luna chuckles tepidly, trying to sound soothing through clenched teeth, but can nay hide her annoyance "We shall go see your mother.".

Soul Strider trots happily behind Luna, following her to the royal office.

Celestia sits behind her desk, piles of pre-written decrees mound in her inbox. A yellow mare earth pony enters with another stack of decrees perched on her back. As the mare adds the stack to the Princess' pile, Celestia Sighs, "Thank you, Secretariat Heartquill. Is this everything?" she asks with a touch of exasperation.

Secretariat Heartquill nods, bowing, "Yes, your majesty. I apologize for the workload. It had built up over the week, the council saw fit to defer to your judgment on these issues." she explains. "Oh, and you have a meeting with the Neighponyse ambassador at 1 this afternoon in the ivory room. You know how Ambassador Kiriin feels about punctuality." Heartquill cautions.

Celestia nods, already putting on her diplomatic smile, "Indeed. Thank you again, Heartquilll. I should begin now if I'm to get through these decrees in time to have any sort of lunch.". She levitates a rubber stamper with the royal seal upon it, as well as brings the paper with the first decree proposal in front of her.

As soon as Heartquill opens the door the little white unipeg foal squeezes around the mare, galloping directly to Celestia, exclaiming "Mama!". The young prince immediately hugs his mother's foreleg, taking a place sitting between her forelegs, sheltering himself with his mother..

Luna politely dismisses the royal Secretariat, entering Celestia's office, "Sorry to disturb you, Tia, but the little one needed his mother." she explains. "I'm going back to bed, see you both at dinner tonight." Luna heads back to her room, sure she'll have peace now.

Celestia smiles down at her foal, "Do you want to see what mama does at work?" she asks. Soul Strider nods excitedly, watching his mother levitate her royal signature stamp, and place her mark of approval on a piece of royal legislation. The little one watched for several minutes, an eternity for one so young.

"I wanna do work too, mama!" he exclaims, turning bored circles under Celestia.

She giggles, amused at the willingness of her foal to do the most banal of her duties. She levitates another of her rubber stamps, an ink pad, and a few pieces of parchment. "There you go, dear." She dutifully goes back to work.

The little prince had no idea how to make the rubber stamper levitate, so he took it in his teeth, and just like mama, he tamped it on the ink pad and pressed it on the paper. He giggled as the stamp showed up in silver ink on the paper.

The young prince spent the next hour marking up all three pieces of paper with the Princess' mark. With all the paper used he looked around for something else to use the stamp on. He immediately looked to the snowy white leg of his mother, and put a stamp neatly on his mother's foreleg.

Celestia opens her eyes wider, the wet sensation of ink on her leg isn't startling, but it is unexpected. She looks down at her foreleg, and the silver royal signature on it, then down at the foal between her legs. Soul Strider looks up at his mother, smiling, the rubber stamp still in his mouth. "Now Soul Strider, you shouldn't put a stamp on mama. Now I have to take a bath during lunch." she says, admonishing him softly. The idea of an afternoon bath with lunch isn't all that unwelcome.

The little prince frowns, setting down the stamp. "I'm bored, Mama. Let's go play." He leans against his mother's leg, looking up at her endearingly.

Just as Celestia is about to explain how she's too busy the nursemaid enters, bowing briefly, "Your majesty, the young master's bedroom and playroom is stocked and ready. Shall I bring the young master there?" she asks.

Celestia smiles, nodding, "Of course." She looks down at her foal. "Would you like to see your new room? I hear you've been given toys from toy makers all over Equestria. Mama will come see you when her work is done."

Soul Strider looks up at his mother, head canted to the side, then he nods quickly, "Okay." he responds, cantering over to the nursemaid.

The little prince was brought to his bedroom-playroom. As promised it was well stocked with a wide assortment of toys from every toy maker. All the toys were provided free of charge with the hope that one of them would end up being a favorite of the young prince and by default the most popular toy in Equestria. Soul Strider took hours exploring his room, trying each toy out. He found the various balls to be fun, save for the giant ball that was bigger than him, he had no idea what he was going to do with that. In the end it was a simple ball-in-a-cup toy that he used to keep himself occupied until his mother could come and play.

Lunch passed with no sight of his mother, it wasn't until Dinnertime did he see his mama and auntie Luna. Dinner time was spent mostly talking about things he didn't understand, like ambassadors, trade agreements, and royal decrees. All he understood was that all of mama's work was keeping her away from him. He frowned all during dinner.

Both Celestia and Luna took notice of the little prince's dour expression. Celestia smiled to her son, "What's wrong, darling? Aren't you happy with your room and toys?".

Soul Strider looked up from his dinner, "I like my room, and the toys are really neat, but you didn't come to play with me. Stupid work kept you away." he complained.

Luna couldn't help but to smile, "Your little one seems to agree with me, Tia.". Luna had never liked paperwork, preferring to delegate the ennui of niggling policy matters to the council.

Celestia sighs, not wanting to rehash the debate over the wisdom of personally managing the various social issues and programs of Equestria at the dinner table, "I'm sorry, darling. Mama promises to spend time with you as soon as work is done, okay.

The little prince nods eagerly, looking forward to time with mama.

After dinner as the little prince watched his mother set the sun, took his bath During the quiet moments he schemed his plan to make sure mama had plenty of time to spend with him Celestia's foal was tucked in for a bedtime story. He fell asleep before Mama could finish the first chapter of the Daring Do book she read from.

The next morning, the young prince awoke before daybreak, he looked around for his mother, but only he and his toys were there. He looked at the eerie shadows cast by his dolls in the pale blue light given off by the will-o-wisp atop his wonder bolts night light. He pulls up the blanket over his head to hide from the creepiness of the shadows. His first instinct is to cry out for his mama, but he remembered he had something very important to do. Ignoring the shadows on the wall, he snuck out of his room, heading to the place where his mother does all of her work.

Nopony the little prince passed tried to stop the little one, as he was the royal heir to Celestia there were no secrets from him. Only dangerous places like the armory, kitchen, or the blacksmith's workshop were off limits by Celestia's orders. Guards even opened the door for the young prince. Upon reaching mama's desk, Soul Strider got to work. Luckily all of the work for the day was piled up by the secretariat's night crew. The little prince started to work, taking a paper from the 'in' box, stamping it with the royal seal, and placing it into the 'out' box. There was one detail the young prince had no idea that was involved in mama's work...Actually reading the decrees.

It was daybreak before the little prince had finished with the last paper. Setting down the stamper, he trotted out of the royal office to go to the royal bedchamber to greet mama.

Celestia was surprised as well as relieved to find out that there was no paperwork for the day. She thought nothing of it when her secretariat had mentioned that there wasn't 'more' paperwork. With her day free, Celestia took her son out to the castle gardens to introduce him to the animals, and have a nice picnic. All in all it was a lovely time enjoyed by mother and son.

The castle staff, however was in chaos. Over 200 simultaneous decrees were sent down to the council to enact. Many of the decrees contradicted others, and every financing request was approved whether the idea was good or not. Royal accountants were in a tizzy trying to figure out how this was going to affect the royal treasury. Princess Celestia was blissfully aware of what was going on, until she brought her little one back up to the castle for his nap.

Celestia was greeted by the frazzled royal Comptroller, "Your majesty! With all due respect: Have you gone INSANE?!".

"What?" Celestia responds in a tone of voice that hints that she heard him, but is just giving the comptroller the opportunity to rephrase his question. She secretly counts this as the second time her sanity has been questioned in a millenium. Ah, the joys of motherhood.

"My apologies, but you have spent the entire year's budget in the first six months!" he shows Celestia one of the decrees stamped directly over the text of the decree, rather on the signature line, "500,000 bits to study the effectiveness of cheese as an anti-coagulant. Another, 25,000 bits to research new cupcake flavors. One MILLION bits to search for extra-Equestrian life! The list goes on." the unicorn exasperates at her. "We're going to run a yearly deficit of over 25 million bits!".

Celestia narrows her eyes at the decree, "I did NOT approve this. How did all those decrees get signed?". She looks as confused as the comptroller until the sleepy little prince spoke up.

"I did mama's work so we could have a picnic!" he announces proudly.

Celestia and the royal Comptroller looked at each other in horror for a moment, "Get those decrees back! Stop any payments that have yet to go out, scrub any new laws made today off the books!" Celestia orders.

Souls Strider looks up to his mother, "Did I do something wrong, mama?" he asks with a remorseful tone and expression.

Celestia sighs, trying to keep her tone soft, "Yes, but you meant well, dear." Soul Strider looks down at the floor, his hears folded down. The princess pats her foal's black mane, "Just don't play with mama's papers, anymore."

Soul Strider nods, looking up as his mother, "I won't. I promise.". He wasn't sure what he did wrong, but seeing mama's reaction convinced him it wasn't good.

Celestia ponders for a moment, petting her foal as she came to a decision, "I think it's time you started school..."


	3. Chapter 3: Introductions

Pacing the office, a bay-colored unicorn stallion with a mane that shone every shade of violet, save for the azure ends looked to his assistant, levitating a paper in front of her for what seems like the hundredth time, "How am I expected to tell her THIS?!". He took a deep breath to calm himself. "I'll just adjust the grade, nopony needs to know. Right? We could even reorganize the class structure.".

Sighing, the assistant, a sandy colored unicorn mare with a wavy verdant mane brushes aside the paper with a forehoof, "It will do the student a terrible disservice to lie about his aptitude. If he's to get a proper education he needs a proper start.". Her reply is the Dean affixing a blank stare, at a blank wall where his mind's eye sees a picture of himself pilloried. The assistant takes the Dean's face in her fore hooves and stares down the stallion, "Dean Auburn Skye! Are you listening to me?". Once she is sure she has the Dean's attention she lectures, "You are the Dean of Canterlot primary academy. You insist on the highest standards of integrity and excellence from our students, even under duress and adversity. You owe them no less. Now sally forth! Make us proud!"

Dean Auburn Skye is goaded out the door by a firm strike on his haunches. The door slams behind him. Princess Celestia watches the Dean from behind his desk, a poker smile on her face that' she has practiced for centuries. Willing his perspiration back, the Dean sits opposite of the Princess, "Your majesty, I have the result of his royal highness' aptitude exam." He announces, then coughs a few times, and takes a sip from the teacup on his desk stalling for time to collect his thoughts, "Considering your son's chronological age, his intellectual development is phenomenal. However, we must use the standards for this primary school to place him in a class. We of course have his highness' best interests in mind when we came to this decision.".

Celestia's serene stature never wavers as she hears the Dean craft his carefully chosen excuses. She cuts to the chase, "Of course, Dean Auburn Skye. Which class grade is my son going to attend?". Nopony knows Celestia's son better than Celestia herself, there is little the Dean could say about her son that would surprise her.

After being called to the truth by the princess, Dean Skye, lays out the results paper in front of Celestia, "He lacks the skill to read and write. So we needed to administer the placement exam orally. Illiteracy disqualifies him automatically from class 1-A. His scores in arithmetic are wanting. His knowledge of grammar and vocabulary are below the 50th percentile for the six year old age group. I'm afraid we will need to give your son remedial lessons. His majesty would be best served starting in class 1-D.". He braces for the Princess' reprisal.

Celestia takes a long moment to look over the test, canting her head to the side. She takes a long breath in through her nose, flaring her nostrils before speaking, "I tend to agree, Dean Skye. I understand my son hasn't had the opportunity to develop intellectually, and he is at the emotional age where he needs to learn how to make friends. When can he start?".

A manilla document envelope is presented to the Celestia, "The beginning of next week. These will need to be filled out. Of course you can ignore the financial portion of the packet. School uniform requirements are also clearly spelled out. We look forward to meeting the Prince next week.". Dean Skye smiles demurely, making a faint 'squee' sound as his sigh of relief sings through his teeth. He'd managed to get through this without the worst happening: Offending the princess.

The next week was a flurry of activity for the young Prince. He was measured by the royal tailor for his uniform, a white short sleeve buttoned shirt with a powder blue collar, plain red clip on necktie, and tartan sweater-vest. After the fittings came a trip to the doctors to get a series of vaccinations. Soul Strider clung to his mother as he endured the half dozen small pinches from a needle. His trip to the dentist was a bit better, as the fluoride gel tasted like cotton candy. Since he'd never had cotton candy before, any subsequent cotton candy would taste like fluoride gel.

Morning broke on Soul Strider's first day of school. Celestia took the time to dress and groom her foal for school. She had even packed his lunch, a peanut butter and daisy sandwich, with an apple and carrot sticks to snack on. She accompanied Soul Strider to the courtyard where a royal carriage awaited to take the foal the 12 furlong distance to school. Pausing in front of the open carriage, Soul Strider looked up at his mother, "Do I really hafta go?" he asks, a whine in his voice.

Celestia bowed her head down, nuzzling the foal, "You will be glad you did once you meet the other foals and start making friends." she says to comfort him. "You'll also have the opportunity to learn lots of things as well.". She nudged him onto the carriage, closing the door. "I'll see you at 3 o'clock.". With a wave from the Princess, Soul Strider's carriage left the guarded confines of Canterlot castle.

In the yard of Canterlot primary academy at 8am sharp, bells chimed the chorus of the Equestrian anthem, signaling the start of the school day. Standing before eight chattering students, an orange unicorn stallion dressed in a shirt and tie similar to the students, but his sweater was solid red, sleeved, and had the school crest embroidered over the left breast. His brown cropped and spiked mane was frosted by gray hairs, the wages of late middle age. On his flank was book titled with a pentacle. Clearing his throat deliberately, the teacher tries in vain to quiet his class. Only after sounding the brass bell on his desk does the teacher finally quiet his students.

"Good morning, class. Before we begin today's lesson I have an announcement. We have a new student today. He's a member of the royal family.". The bell on the desk had to be sounded again to stop the students from whispering amongst themselves. "As I was saying: Our new student is Prince Soul Strider, the son of Princess Celestia.". Looking to the door, the teacher beckons, "Please come in, and be introduced, young master.".

Soul Strider pushed open the sliding door and walked to the teacher's desk. Standing before the class, he timidly recites the greeting the Dean helped him rehearse, "Greetings. I'm- I'm Soul Strider. I'm happy to meet you all."

Nine pairs of eyes stared at the unipeg before them, their silence deafening. It was the teacher that finally spoke up, "I am your teacher, Providence. You may address me as Mr. Providence, teacher, or sir." Addressing the class Providence says, "Now each of you stand, and introduce yourselves.".

Starting from the front left corner each foal stood and introduced themselves, first was a white earth pony colt with a bright yellow mane that refused to keep any styling applied to it. He stood and introduced himself cheerfully, "Hello! I'm Flash Memory, good to meet ya!.".

Next, a red unicorn filly with a long forest green mane stood up, one eye half open, the other covered by her low hanging bangs. She looked generally disinterested. Her loose, apathetically tied necktie showing it wasn't just the new student she didn't give a flying ponyfeather on a rolling muffin about. "Crimson Clover... Welcome, or something." She sat back down, having achieved the bare minimum introduction that was required.

Standing up next a zebra colt stands, obviously an exchange student, "Whaappen, pony bruddah. I be Twain, respek." The striped pony thumps his chest once, and sits back down. About the only part of the Zebra's patois the prince understood that the odd colt's name was Twain.

From the second row, a shorter, teal furred chubby, bespectacled unicorn stood up, his red mane looked like it was styled with an overturned bowl. His voice was nasal, and stuffy, making his 'd' and 'm' sound like 'b' as if he had a head cold that never goes away, "Hi, I'm Ginger Snap. Welcome to -Achsnah!- Class -Ahhpblblplt!-" Ginger Snap finishes his sneezing fit, and spends the next few minutes wiping his nose. Judging by the stack of tissue boxes nearby and his own wastepaper basket, his sneezing fits are commonplace.

Next to Ginger Snap was an empty desk. The desk after that was occupied by an ice blue pegasus filly with a snowy mane. She seemed to be enthralled by whatever was going on outside the window she was seated next to. Providence took the liberty of making the introduction, "She is Winterborn. You'll have to excuse her, she doesn't talk and her attention tends to wander." As the filly hears her name called, her attention returns to the teacher. She nods once, her attention staying with the teacher and the new student for half a moment before she looks back out the window.

In the first seat of the back row, a jet black unicorn colt with matching silver unicorn and mane stands, "Zap Thunderchild." He introduces before addressing Providence, "We don't have to call him 'Your majesty', do we?" he asks, shooting a disapproving glare at the foal that would be prince.

Providence sighs, shaking his head, "In this class you are all my students before anything else. Outside of class I expect you all to use proper tact and respect no matter whomever the pony is.".

With Providence's instruction over, the student next to Zap stands. He's a royal blue earth pony colt, his mane just a shade darker than his fur. What stands out most about this pony colt is, this pony standing. He's taller and bulkier than any pony in his grade as well as any pony in next three grades. "I'm Cobalt. Hi, umm..." He tries to think of something else to say, something clever, or welcoming, or nice, but his brain gives him nothing, "Uhh, yeah. Hi.". Cobalt sits back down quickly, his cheeks purple from the embarrassment of his wit failing him yet again.

In the far rear corner sits an orange pegasus colt with short cropped strawberry blonde mane. Standing up shakily, his eyes wide open he greets, "Jumble Peg am I. Meeting you, I am glad. Having your...Fun.". He sighs, knowing that was all wrong. A blush roses his cheeks as he elicits giggles from the other students and a taunting laugh from Zap.

` Providence sounds the bell, calling for quiet, "That's enough, class. Jumble, take a deep breath and try it again. One word at a time."

Jumble closes his eyes, and takes a deep breath. Putting his thoughts in order was always difficult. He tries his greeting again, though a bit abbreviated, "Hi, I'm Jumble Peg.". He quickly sits back down before he says something else stupid.

The introductions complete, Providence went back to his desk, "Soul Strider, you are assigned the desk next to Ginger Snap. Now everyone settle in and open your math readers to chapter two; addition.". Providence levitated a piece of chalk to the board, writing out several single digit addition problems while lecturing the class.

After going over a few single digit addition problems, Providence posed the question, "Now class, who can tell me what two-plus-two is?".

Flash Memory's hoof shot up, waving enthusiastically. Providence waited a moment to see any other volunteers came forward. Seeing none, he called, "Flash Mem-" he was cut off by the foal exclaiming his answer, "Four!".

"Correct, but please wait for me to finish calling your name before answering.". Providence called out another problem, "Now, two-plus five.". Flash's hoof, and only Flash's hoof went up again. Providence decided he needed to hear from... "Cobalt, please tell the class what two-plus-five equals.".

Sitting up straight, Cobalt stared blankly at the front of the class, having no idea how to answer the question, "I-I dunno, sir." he answers, hoping the teacher will just ask somepony else.

"Nonsense. Count it out. 1, 2 and what's five more?" Providence instructs. He gives Cobalt time to mull it over. The blue pony foal clopped his fore hoof on his desk five times.

"Seven?" Cobalt answers, unsure of the accuracy of his figuring.

"Correct. I hope the rest of you were paying attention to how Cobalt came about his answer. For homework I would like each of you to do the twenty addition problems in page five of your workbooks." Providence's assignment elicited a collective groan from the class.

Once the math lesson ended, came the reading lesson, which was far more interesting as the teacher read a story out of the reader to the class while they followed along. The teacher occasionally asked for volunteers to read a few sentences about Colt and Filly running, the only volunteer to read was Ginger Snap. He managed to sniffle his way through a paragraph fairly well.

Once reading was over came recess. Providence led the children single file out of class to the playground where he left them in the care of the playground monitors. Afterward he went back in for a cup of tea, and a break.

Soul Strider wandered the playground, it seemed to have everything. He watched Cobalt pulling a sled weighed down with concrete blocks, then go back and put more concrete blocks on and pull them again. Jumble Peg and Flash Memory were taking a spin on the merry-go-round propelled by Jumble Peg's wing power. Winterborn was on the highest level of the pipe maze, on a small balcony, looking off in the distance. Crimson clover couldn't be found as she'd secluded herself somewhere deep within the pipe maze. Zap was off in the sandbox, extorting milk money from Twain who just found it easier to bring extra bits to pay off the bully rather than to get beaten up again.

Soul Strider eventually stopped at the swing set. The swing itself was a platform large enough to stand or lie down on, hanging from ropes attached from the beam high above to the corners of the platform. He stood watching Ginger Snap swaying back and forth. Eventually Ginger took notice, he looked down at the little prince, the Prince watched him back.

"You can use the one next to me.". Ginger Snap still sounded stuffy.

Soul Strider walked behind the swing, placing his fore-hooves on the platform, he stumbles forward as the platform swings forward until it goes too far. The foal's fore hooves slip off causing him to face-plant on the grass with his rump in the air. It only took a moment for the swing to come back, striking Soul Strider in the rump. To Soul Strider's credit, he didn't immediately start crying.

Ginger Snap could be heard chuckling and snorting as he passed back and forth in front of the downed prince, "You gotta jump a little bit and get your hind legs on the swing.".

Soul Strider gave the swing another go, this time jumping onto the platform. He landed on his belly in an ungraceful sprawl, but it took only a moment to get his legs folded under him. Being his first time on a swing, he shifted his weight around clumsily to keep balance. All of the shifting causing the swing to take a slight lateral motion.

"No, no. Lean back when you go back, lean forward when you go forward." the ginger unicorn demonstrated by exaggerating the shifting of his weight. His swing, and his belly fat swung with his motion. (More like rolled for the belly fat.).

It didn't take long for the unipeg prince to get the hang of swinging. After a minute of exaggerated leaning and asynchronous motion he was keeping time with Ginger Snap.

Ginger laughed as he watched prince make his mistakes, but was surprised how quickly he caught on. "Not bad. You seem pretty bright. Too bright to be in the dummy class, with us.".

"Dummy class?". Asked Soul Strider. "What's a dummy class? What's a dummy?". Apparently the Prince's insult language skills weren't developed with the rest. Insults didn't come naturally.

"We're the dummies." Came the blunt reply from Ginger Snap, "I'm not gonna say anything about the other foals in class, but I get sick all the time, 'cause I'm allergic to dust, pollen, cats, dander, shellfish, milk, peanuts, almonds, wheat gluten. You know, everything. When I get sick with allergies I miss class. I missed so many days last year I stayed back a grade." He explains. "And dummy class is us. Class 1-D, the D is for 'DUH'".

"Oh... Well, I don't think you're a dummy. You could read that story by yourself. I don't even know what sounds the letters are supposed to make." Soul Strider admits. "Mama says I'll learn how to read an' stuff here.".

Ginger snap nods in confirmation, "Yep, I think you will. You don't seem dumb, you just don't know a lot.". Ginger pauses, thinking he might have just insulted the prince accidentally. "Anyway thanks for saying I'm not a dummy.".

Soul Strider opened his mouth to object, but he realized there was a lot he didn't know, even things he thought he should know. He couldn't quite figure out why he thought he should know some things. Thinking about it all made him a little dizzy, so he just nodded in agreement with Ginger Snap.

They both swung quietly for a moment before Ginger Snap spoke up again, "What's it like being a prince, anyway? Is it cool?".

Shrugging, the young prince now just added another item to the list of things he didn't know. "I dunno. What's it like NOT being a prince?.". He retorted, honestly expecting an answer, but not getting one as the bell rang, calling for the end of recess.

Ginger Snap leaped off of his swing, landing with a thud and grunt, "Ugh. Time for art class. Hey, wanna sit next to me in lunch? I can show you how to sound out the words while we eat." he offers.

Leaping off of his own swing, the prince instinctively starts flapping his wing fast and clumsily. Soul Strider fails to fly but succeeds in resembling a hummingbird after taking an extended sip out of a whiskey bottle. He lands slightly less gracefully than he would have had he just allowed himself to plummet. Recovering from his landing, he smiled at Ginger, "Sure! See you at lunch.". They returned to class, cantering shoulder to shoulder.

Art class came and went with only a few minor incidents, mostly the teacher having to keep reminding Cobalt to not eat the paper _mâché_ paste. Soul Strider and Ginger Snap spent their art class with crayons, trying in vain to keep the color inside the lines of a tracing of a Nightmare Moon storybook page. Soul Strider took a long look at the tracing, staring at the picture of Nightmare Moon rearing up, "That kinda looks like auntie Luna." Soul Strider finally notices.

"That's 'cause it is. Pass the black, please?" Ginger Snap replies. "You never heard the story of Nightmare Moon? It's all about your mom and aunt. I think they woulda told you the story at least once. We'll have to read that, sometime.". Ginger continued coloring in Nightmare Moon.

The prince shook his head, watching the tracing of his aunt being colored in black, her sinister eyes azure, with the pupil narrowed to thin feline slit . He noticed the other ponies in the picture cowering in terror. He knew picture was of his aunt, but it wasn't the aunt he knew. Not the aunt that saved him from the curtain, or read to him with mama, or seemed to be around to offer her affections when mama couldn't... And he yelled at her for it. "Yeah." Soul Strider found something else to add to the list of things he needed to know about.

The lunch bell sounded just as the scene was colored in. Soul Strider kept the colored page in his desk, planning on taking it home to show mama, and ask about Nightmare Moon and aunt Luna.

Providence lined up the students single file, and walked them past the cubbyholes where the students kept their lunches, coats and outside shoes if they were inclined to wear them. All the students took up their lunchboxes or bags. In the case of Ginger Snap, something that looked more like a large first aid kit, rather than a lunch box.

It was a short, silent walk to the cafeteria as all the foals were gripping their various lunch containers in their mouths. It was a rather plain looking cafeteria. Polished pinewood floors, white walls, and a counter at the rear where a quartet of lunch-mares dished out low-budget prepared lunches. Once there, the teacher left the children to sit wherever they wished.

Soul Strider followed Ginger Snap to one of the many plain wooden tables, and set down his box. As they set out their lunches, the young prince asks, "Why is the story of Nightmare Moon about my aunt? She's couldn't really be Nightmare Moon, could she?" the Prince takes a bite out of his peanut butter and daisy sandwich as he awaits his answer.

Ginger Snap snuffles quietly into his napkin, wiping his nose, catching a strong whiff of peanut butter on the prince's breath. "Nightmare Moon is Princess Luna. A thousand years ago she raised and lowered... The moon.". The ginger pony's breathing becomes more difficult, a wheeze sings along with his labored breath. "...She... Got mad. Because ponies slept all night.". Ginger's face and eyes began to look puffy.

The young prince set down his sandwich, leaning closer, accidentally blowing more peanut butter breath onto his distressed friend, "Are you ok?" he asks, noticing Ginger Snap's swollen, bloodshot eyes, wheezing and red blotchy spots tinting his teal fur.

"I need...My inhaler!" Ginger Snap wheezed, his voice not much louder than a whisper. The teal unicorn plants his fore hooves on the table, stretching out his body in a vain attempt to coax more air through swollen breathing tubes what have nearly shut. He fights for breath like a drowning pony being forced to breathe through a hollow coffee stirrer.

Soul Strider looks around desperately, having no idea what to do. He can only watch his new friend struggle to breathe, having no idea why he'd fallen ill. "Teacher! Teacher!" he cries out.

Silence befalls the cafeteria until one of the cafeteria attendants snaps to attention, "Code blue! Code blue! Where's the auto injector?!" the adult cafeteria attendant shouts.

Events started to blend one into another for the young prince. He was ushered back and out of the way by one of the lunch-mares. Soul Strider stood in front of the crowd of students as he watched as the table was swept clean and Ginger Snap was hefted onto it and then stuck in the rump with a long pin with a small liquid filled glass bulb on the end of it. The little prince could hear the crowd of students make comments "Did the fat one have another allergy attack?" "What did it this time, too much air in the air?" "Did chubby eat another peanut?".

Once Ginger Snap took a few deep breaths when his bronchial tubes relax and let the air back into his lungs. With the excitement over, the crowd of students began to disperse. Soul Strider stood by his new friend as the attendants went to fetch a gurney to take Ginger to the nurse for a more thorough examination. While waiting, the remaining attendant noticed the lunches that were swept onto the floor to make room for the ailing student. Discovering the peanut butter and daisy sandwich, the attendant knew she found the culprit.

"Is this your sandwich, isn't it?" the attendant asks, Soul Strider nods, not making the connection. "That explains it..." She collects the lunch from the floor, discarding it, "We'll bring you a new lunch when we get him to the nurse.".

At this point, Soul Strider didn't care much about lunch, the whole ordeal put him off it. "Is Ginger gonna be ok? It was me, wasn't it? My lunch made him sick." he declares morosely.

"Oh, it wasn't your fault, you couldn't have known. But we will have to send you home with a note for your mother. I'm sure he'll be fine, we deal with this sort of thing a few times a year." the attendant explains.

Soul Strider spent the rest of the lunch period in the nurses office sitting next to Ginger, getting a lesson about allergies, anaphylaxis and handling emergencies. However, hearing that his friend could have died from his own peanut butter breath didn't help with the knot of guilt the prince had in his stomach in place of lunch. Once the lunch period was over Soul Strider returned to class alone as Ginger Snap's mother was due to retrieve him so he could relax for the rest of the day.

It was difficult for the Prince to concentrate During the last period his mind was as far away from class as Winterborn's was, the history lesson largely lost upon him. Soul Strider thought more about the more recent history, the ruckus at lunch.

At the end of the day Soul Strider was given the scroll to be delivered to his mother, and sent out for the carriage ride home. When the carriage door was opened he was greeted by his mother.

"Hello dear! How was school? Did you make any new friends, today?" Celestia asked cheerfully, expecting a happy little tale.

Soul Strider broke down, he looked up at his mother, his eyes welling up and his bottom lip aflutter, "Yes." he whines, then presents the note to his mother before lying down, facing the corner of the carriage.

Celestia levitates the scroll before her, unraveling it. She was confused as her son's answer didn't fit the reaction she received. It wasn't until she read the note he brought home did she understand...

_Dear Princess Celestia,_

_ Today one of your son's friend and classmate Ginger Snap took ill stricken with a case of anaphylaxis. The cause of which was determined to be an ingredient of Prince Soul Strider's lunch. _

_ We assure you that Ginger Snap is well and will be in class tomorrow, but we respectfully request any future packed lunches are hypoallergenic. We have included a list of ingredients we humbly ask not be included in future packed lunches._

_ If this is inconvenient, we also have available prepared lunches for our students which will be, of course, provided free of charge for your son._

_ Your faithful subject,_

_ Accoucheuse APRN._

"Oh! Ohhh..." Celestia exclaims as the accompanying list unravels, the scroll rolling away like a dropped roll of toilet paper...


End file.
